Viola Davis Biography:

Viola Davis was born in South Carolina on the Singleton Plantation, her father was a horse trainer, and her mother worked as a maid. Viola actually spent time in jail with her mother, at the age of 2, after her mother was arrested during a civil rights protest. Her family moved to Rhode Island, and this was where she grew up, attending Central Falls High School. While in school, Davis developed a love of stage acting and performing, and eventually enrolled in the Young People’s School for the Performing Arts.

After graduating with a degree in theater, and fine arts, Davis attended the famous Juilliard School in New York, where she learned to hone her craft. She finally made her screen debut in the movie The Substance of Fire (1996), for which she received just over $500. This was followed by a role in Out of Sight (1998), and Traffic (2000), as well as the TV show, Judging Amy. She also won a large role in the show City of Angels in 2000. A year later she scooped a Tony Award for her Broadway role in King Hedley II.

She also enjoyed roles in Ocean’s Eleven (2001), Doubt (2008), and The Help (2011), for which she won a Golden Globe Award. In 2014 she took a lead role in the hit TV show How to Get Away With Murder. Further success came a couple of years later when Davis reprised her Broadway role as Rose Maxson in the movie adaptation Fences (2016). She won an Academy Award for her performance, and, in doing so, became the first black actor to win the Triple Crown of Acting.

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